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Canada to build on trade and investment interests in Iraq at a “pivotal moment” and expand its engagement with a “key regional player”: Baird

Foreign Minister John Baird signs the guestbook at the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday. A new diplomatic office in Iraq will be an offshoot of Canada's embassy in Amman, Jordan. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Stephanie Duhaime will head a Canadian diplomatic mission to Iraq in shared facilities at the British embassy in Baghdad. tmaccharles@thestar.ca Subject: S Duhaime Photo 1.jpg Here you go: image001.jpg (Rick Roth photo)

OTTAWA—On a swing through the Middle East, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird opened a new one-woman Canadian diplomatic mission to Iraq in shared digs at the British embassy in Baghdad.

In a surprise one-day visit to the Iraqi capital Monday, Baird announced the appointment of chargé d’affaires Stephanie Duhaime, 33, to the job which is not a full-fledged ambassadorial post.

The Canadian embassy in Jordan will continue to oversee Ottawa’s effort to re-establish diplomatic relations in Iraq.

Baird, on his seventh trip to the Middle East region since being named foreign affairs minister in 2011, said Canada wants to build on Canadian trade and investment interests in Iraq at a “pivotal moment” and expand its engagement with a “key regional player.”

“To pursue our interests, we know that Canada needs to be on the ground in Baghdad,” Baird said in a written statement.

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The Globe and Mail reported Monday that Baird met Iraqi officials, who urged Canada to open a full-fledged embassy as the U.S. and China have done.

Nevertheless, the Canadian presence will still be minimal.

Chris Day, a spokesman travelling with Baird, said in an email that Iraqi officials were “happy that Canada is back in Baghdad and working to enhance our relationship on all levels, including economic.

“It was universally a positive reaction to the minister’s commitment to engage,” Day said.

Canada — under then prime minister Jean Chrétien — enacted sanctions against the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein but did not participate in the U.S.-led military invasion of the country. It was one of the first countries to offer humanitarian and reconstruction aid after the U.S. toppled Hussein.

Now, 10 years after “the Iraqi intervention,” Baird said Iraq has become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, notwithstanding ongoing sectarian violence.

He said despite deep historical divisions between Sunni, Shia and Kurdish sects, the country has “the potential of one day becoming a multi-confessional, pluralist society at peace with its neighbours, one where Muslims, Christians and other religious and ethnic groups will live in security and social harmony.”

Ottawa has its sights on boosting trade in the country’s north as well, where Baird said he will seek to “expand our dialogue with leaders in Erbil.”

Canada and Britain signed a deal last fall to share diplomatic premises where it could suit their respective purposes.

Duhaime, a native of Sudbury, is fluent in English, French and Arabic and joined the department in 2004, according to a news release. She has worked in Iraq, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Syria and southern Afghanistan.

The announcement of her appointment noted she had been recognized for her work in Afghanistan at “the forefront of developing and (making operational) NATO and Canadian counter-insurgency efforts from 2009 to 2010.”

Baird was unavailable to speak to reporters in Ottawa by telephone Monday, his spokesman said.

He travels to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, then on to Bahrain, Qatar, and Cyprus later in the week. Next weekend, Baird will visit Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, where he will meet President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki.

Baird heads to Israel Sunday and Monday, where he is expected to meet with President Benjamin Netanyahu and a handful of government ministers.

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